Congressional Record, Volume 153 Issue 98 (Monday, June 18, 2007)

[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 98 (Monday, June 18, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H6600-H6605]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

{time} 1600
CALLING ON UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL TO CHARGE IRANIAN PRESIDENT
WITH CERTAIN VIOLATIONS BECAUSE OF HIS CALLS FOR DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL

Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 21) calling on the United Nations
Security Council to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with
violating the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide and the United Nations Charter because of his calls
for the destruction of the State of Israel, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

H. Con. Res. 21

Whereas the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (commonly referred to as
the ``Genocide Convention'') defines genocide as, among other
things, the act of killing members of a national, ethnic,
racial, or religious group with the intent to destroy, in
whole or in part, the targeted group, and it also prohibits
conspiracy to commit genocide, as well as ``direct and public
incitement to commit genocide'';
Whereas Article 4 of the Genocide Convention provides that
individuals committing any of the listed genocidal crimes
shall be punished ``whether they are constitutionally
responsible rulers, public officials or private
individuals'';
Whereas 133 Member States of the United Nations have
ratified the Genocide Convention and thereby pledged to
prosecute those individuals who violate its criteria for
incitement to commit genocide, as well as those individuals
who commit genocide directly;
Whereas 62 years ago the United Nations was founded in the
wake of the Holocaust, the Nazi genocide carried out during
World War II that resulted in the slaughter of 6 million Jews
in Europe, in order to ``save succeeding generations from the
scourge of war'' and uphold and protect the ``dignity and
worth of the human person'';
Whereas Article 2, Section 4, of the United Nations
Charter, to which Iran has agreed as a Member State of the
United Nations, requires all Member States of the United
Nations to ``refrain in their international relations from
the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity
or political independence of any state'';
Whereas on October 26, 2005, at the World Without Zionism
Conference in Tehran, Iran, Iranian leader Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be ``wiped off the map'',
described Israel as ``a disgraceful blot [on] the face of the
Islamic world'', and declared that ``[a]nybody who recognizes
Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury'';
Whereas on December 12, 2006, Iranian leader Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad addressed a conference in Tehran questioning the
historical veracity of the Holocaust and said that Israel
would ``soon be wiped out'';
Whereas on December 15, 2000, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali
Khamene'i stated to thousands of Muslim worshippers in Tehran
that ``Iran's stance has always been clear on this ugly
phenomenon (Israel). We have repeatedly said that this
cancerous tumor of a state should be removed from the
region'';
Whereas other Iranian leaders have made similar statements
and the Government of Iran has displayed inflammatory symbols
that express similar intent;
Whereas on December 14, 2006, incoming United Nations
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that Iran's calls for
Israel's destruction and its dismissal of the Holocaust are
``unacceptable'', and expressed concern about the regional
and global security implications of Tehran's nuclear program;
Whereas on August 3, 2006, in a speech during an emergency
meeting of Muslim leaders, Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
stated that the Middle East would be better off ``without the
existence of the Zionist regime'', called Israel an
``illegitimate regime'' with ``no legal basis for its
existence'', and accused the United States of using Israel as
a proxy to control the region and its oil resources;
Whereas Iran funds, trains, and openly supports terrorist
groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad among
many others, all of which have murdered Americans, Israelis,
and non-Israeli Jews and are determined to destroy Israel;
Whereas on December 14, 2001, former leader of Iran and
current leader of Iran's influential Expediency Council Ali
Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani threatened Israel with destruction
by nuclear attack, saying, ``[i]f one day, the Islamic world
is also equipped with weapons like those that Israel
possesses now, then the imperialists' strategy will reach a
standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside
Israel will destroy everything [in Israel], while it will
merely harm the Islamic world'';
Whereas Iran has aggressively pursued a clandestine effort
to arm itself with nuclear weapons; and
Whereas the longstanding policy of the Iranian regime is
aimed at destroying the democratic State of Israel, a vital
United States ally and longstanding friend, which is
confirmed by statements such as those made by Iranian leader
Ahmadinejad, Supreme Leader Khamene'i, and Expediency Council
leader Rafsanjani, demonstrating the threat of a nuclear-
armed Iran: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That Congress--
(1) condemns, in the strongest terms, Iranian leader
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's offensive remarks, contemptible
statements, and reprehensible policies aimed at the
destruction of the State of Israel;
(2) calls on the United Nations Security Council to take up
charges against Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for
violating the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and Article 2, Section 4,
of the United Nations Charter;
(3) further calls on the United Nations Security Council
and all Member States of the United Nations to consider
stronger measures to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear
weapons, which would be both a dangerous violation of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a potential means to the
end of carrying out Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's threats against
Israel; and
(4) reaffirms the unwavering strategic partnership and
close friendship between the United States and Israel and
reasserts the steadfast commitment of the United States to
defend the right of Israel to exist as a free and democratic
state.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Watson) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.

General Leave

Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution.
Every Member of Congress is disturbed by the offensive comments that
regularly emanate from the mouth of the Iranian President. His pledge
to wipe Israel off the map and his denial of the Holocaust have shocked
the civilized world.
I am among those who feel it is no longer enough simply to shake our
heads disapprovingly and go about our business. Context is everything.
We are talking about a Jewish majority nation, Israel, whose very
existence is threatened by another nation developing a nuclear bomb.
Less than three-quarters of a century ago, Hitler and Nazi Germany
wiped out more than a third of the world's Jewish population. We cannot
stand by and watch if the Iranian President has similar designs.
When Ahmadinejad says that Israel is a legitimate regime with no
basis for its existence, our sense of justice tells us we cannot simply
ignore it. When he describes Israel as ``a disgraceful blot [on] the
face of the Islamic world'' and declares that ``anybody who recognizes
Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury,'' we can't,
as people of conscience, dismiss these words as mere rhetoric.
That is the premise of this resolution. This resolution urges us not
to shrug, but to take action. It calls on the United Nations Security
Council to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with Article 2,
section 4, of the United Nations Charter, which requires all member
states of the United Nations to refrain in their international
relations from the threat

[[Page H6601]]

or use of force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any state. Even more poignantly, it calls for the
Security Council to charge Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,
which forbids direct and public incitement of genocide.
I strongly endorse the premise of this resolution, that we should
take seriously Ahmadinejad's venomous rhetoric and respond in a serious
fashion that will demonstrate our fortitude in stopping him. With this
measure, we also set an example by serving notice to other bigoted
world leaders that we will not tolerate racism and thinly veiled
threats.
We should be more than happy to set aside any notion of prosecuting
President Ahmadinejad under the Genocide Convention were the President
to renounce his previous positions on the Holocaust and on Israel. In
the absence of such apologies, however, the administration should
initiate action that would result in the prosecution of President
Ahmadinejad for crimes under the genocide convention and to do so
without delay.
I strongly support this resolution. I urge all my colleagues to do
likewise to send a message to Iran.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 21, which
denounces the Iranian regime, its belligerent rhetoric and behavior,
and urges the international community to hold it accountable and
prevent it from achieving its horrific goals.
As the U.S. and our allies attempt to prevent the radical Islamic
regime in Iran from developing nuclear capabilities, we should reflect
on that regime's vision of the future. While most people desire to live
in a world of freedom, of liberty, of prosperity and of peace, Iran's
rulers actively seek a world of oppression, of destruction, of war, a
world without Israel and without a United States of America.
The Iranian leader Ahmadinejad frequently pushes for Israel's
destruction, saying that this sovereign state should be wiped off the
map, calling it a disgraceful blot on the face of the Islamic world, as
Ambassador Watson pointed out, and proclaiming that anybody who
recognized Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic Nation's fury.
On June 3, Ahmadinejad stated, ``With God's help, the countdown
button for the destruction of [Israel] has been pushed.'' When
Ahmadinejad calls for the destruction of the Jewish state, let us be
clear, he is calling for the genocide of Jews. That is why he has
continued to cast doubt on the veracity of the Holocaust, calling it a
``myth.''
His despicable comments cheapen the suffering of millions of Jews,
desecrate their memory and pave the way for another Holocaust to occur
at the hands of Tehran. The Iranian leader does not threaten Jews and
Israel, he explicitly threatens our very own existence.
In October of 2005, he asked, ``Is it possible for us to witness a
world without America and Zionism. . . . You had best know that this
slogan and this goal are attainable, and, surely, can be achieved.''
Mr. Speaker, his words and actions do not merely reflect his own
views or those of a few powerless extremists. Iran's Supreme Leader,
for example, said, ``This cancerous tumor of a state should be removed
from the region.''
Rafsanjani, the former Iranian leader who continues to hold
significant influence, and who some mistakenly call a moderate, has
threatened Israel with destruction by nuclear weapons, saying that the
use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything,
while it will merely harm the Islamic world.
These are no idle threats, those are not just mere words and
rhetoric. Iran continues to sponsor terrorist groups like Hamas and
Hezbollah who have murdered scores of Israelis, they have murdered
Americans as well, as well as Jews who live outside of Israel, and they
have violated Israel's territory, and they continue to hold Israeli
soldiers hostage.
The existence of our Nation and Israel are not subject to compromise
and the lives of Americans and Israelis are not negotiable.
Indeed, in the wake of the Holocaust, the United Nations was founded
to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to protect
the dignity and the worth of every person. The words and deeds of
Ahmadinejad and his cohorts violate Article 2, section 4 of the U.N.
Charter, which require all U.N. member states to ``refrain . . . from
the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or
political independence of any state.''
Their implicit demands for the death of Jews violates the Genocide
Convention, which states that those who commit or incite genocide shall
be punished, whether they are rulers, government officials or private
citizens.
This resolution, offered by my friend and distinguished colleague,
Mr. Rothman of New Jersey, and Mr. Kirk of Illinois, calls for the U.N.
Security Council to charge Ahmadinejad with violating those binding
documents and for the Council to consider stronger measures to prevent
Iran from obtaining the nuclear weapons that it could use to threaten
and to attack Israel and the world.
Therefore, I strongly urge my colleagues to adopt this very serious
resolution and reaffirm our resolve to end the Iranian threat.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have left?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from California has 16
minutes left. The gentlewoman from Florida has 15 minutes left.
Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 8 minutes to the author of the
concurrent resolution, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Rothman).
(Mr. ROTHMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. ROTHMAN. I thank the distinguished gentlelady from California,
who was also a former Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia.
Thank you for your leadership on this issue and on so many other
issues.
To my dear friend, the ranking member of the International Relations
Committee, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), thank
you for your strong support for this resolution and for countless other
measures of importance to the world as well as to the United States of
America.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 21, a
resolution that I was proud to author, along with Congressman Mark Kirk
from Illinois.
Mr. Speaker, what do you do when you see injustice? What do you do
when you see injustice? Well, as I told my children, you only have two
choices when you see injustice. You do nothing, you walk away in the
face of genocide, or someone else's torment or unjust, unfair
treatment, do nothing, wear blinders like most of the world, or you do
something, do something in the face of injustice.
Here we have the President of a sovereign nation, a Member of the
U.N., Ahmadinejad from Iran, who says that a fellow nation in the
world, a member of the U.N., the state of Israel, should be wiped off
the face of the Earth, the people killed. Not only is that a violation
of the U.N. Charter, which, not surprisingly, says one cannot, as a
member nation, advocate the death and destruction of another member
nation, it also violates the Geneva Convention rules against incitement
to genocide.
Lest one think that Mr. Ahmadinejad, a twisted, backward, lunatic, be
some nonthreatening individual crazy man who happens to talk about the
death of millions of innocent people, this is the head of a nation, a
sovereign nation with oil wealth and an army and with a stated goal of
acquiring nuclear weapons to use to carry out his homicidal, genocidal,
lunatic delusions of wiping out the State of Israel.
So we must take his threats seriously. Just as so many say in the
history of the 20th century as we review it, we should have taken
Hitler's threats more seriously and not just disregarded him as some
lunatic who couldn't do anything about his threats.
So we have asked the United Nations, we are asking them through this
resolution to enforce its own rules against the incitement of the
destruction of a member nation of the U.N..
What is happening at the U.N.? Today you have Indonesia,
unbelievably, standing in the way of a simple

[[Page H6602]]

resolution, simple statement of condemnation against Ahmadinejad's
genocidal statement to destroy Israel.
Why would Indonesia not support the rules of the United Nations? Why
would not they not even stand silent, they are stopping the U.N. from
announcing its resolution against Ahmadinejad's genocidal statements.
Why would Indonesia do that? Whatever the reason, my friends, it's
wrong.
Unless Indonesia understands clearly that it will pay a price in
world opinion and in economic matters and in political relations with
the rest of the world, perhaps it won't move. But let Indonesia know
that this United States House of Representatives, these Representatives
of the 320 million American people, know what is wrong and what is
right.

{time} 1615

It is wrong to call for the death and destruction of a nation. It is
wrong to call for the genocide of a people, and it is wrong for any
other nation to stand in the way of justice, and we won't forget who
helped us stop injustice and who prevented us from calling for the
trial of Ahmadinejad before the international criminal court and
sanctions upon Iran at the U.N.
Why is it important for the United States House of Representatives to
speak? Because we will not be silent in the face of this lunatic madman
who threatens us and threatens our allies.
By the way, if you read the history of the United States of America,
we've been standing up for Israel since its founding. And in our
founding, in the 1700s, if you read the history of all of our founders,
they supported a Jewish homeland in Palestine. From the 1700s in
America up until today, long before the Holocaust of the mid-20th
century, back in the 1700s, Americans believed that the Jews should be
returned to their homeland. And now this lunatic in Iran wants to wipe
out this nation.
And Israel is not just a sentimental favorite. Israel happens to be
America's number one strategic military, economic ally in the entire
Middle East. People say, well, you know Iraq, and we won't get into
that debacle at the moment, what it's costing us in troops and our
military, 150,000 troops. If the state of Israel did not exist with its
powerful, pro-Western military, freedom of speech, freedom of religion,
tolerating all peoples in the region, how many more troops would we
have to have in the Middle East if Israel didn't exist? Another
100,000, 200,000 Americans? We don't have to.
Our ally, the state of Israel, is there for America, as it has been
ever since its founding: military, intelligence, economic.
So for so many reasons, legal, moral, military, national security for
the United States, we cannot let this madman Ahmadinejad threaten
America's greatest ally, the only Western democracy in the entire
Middle East.
I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I urge Indonesia
to do what is right and join with us.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Mr. Rothman for a very
eloquent statement stating the purpose of this resolution.
And with that, I'd like to yield such time as he may consume to the
ranking member of our Middle East Subcommittee, Mr. Pence of Indiana.
(Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished ranking member for
yielding and for her extraordinary leadership on that area of the world
about which I have some responsibilities as the ranking Republican on
the Middle East Subcommittee.
And like the gentlelady from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), I too wish
to congratulate the principal author of H. Con. Res. 21. There is no
greater or more eloquent advocate for that precious relationship
between the free peoples of the United States of America and Israel
than Congressman Steve Rothman of New Jersey. And I commend the
gentleman for his leadership on this measure and would echo the
gentlelady's remarks about the force and eloquence of his presentation.
And I will not seek to emulate that today, nor compete with it.
But I will take a moment, Mr. Speaker, to reflect on the importance
of this resolution and the facts and the wisdom underpinning the need
for Congress to be heard on the issue of calling on the United Nations
Security Council to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with
violating the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide and the U.N. charter because of his calls for the
destruction of the state of Israel.
The United Nations, in a very real sense, was formed when history
failed. History and the international institutions on the planet failed
to prevent barbaric action by fascist Nazi and Axis powers against the
free world. And in every sense, genocide, the genocide that we saw
perpetrated by the Germans against indigenous Jewish people and other
ethnic populations, the genocide perpetrated by certain Japanese forces
on mainland China, was part and parcel of the reason for the formation
of the United Nations. And therefore the United Nations charter and the
aforementioned Treaty on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide are all tied up one with another.
And so for this Congress, as the legislature of that nation which
sits on the Security Council, to call on the United Nations to live up
to its historic commitment to prevent and confront genocide is, as we
say in Indiana, not a stretch. This is at the very essence of what the
United Nations was created to do, and the need for action by the United
Nations Security Council when one considers the facts in this case
truly speak for themselves. And let me lay those facts out.
The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide, commonly known as the Genocide Convention, defines genocide
as, among other things, ``the act of killing members of a national,
ethnic, racial or religious group with the intent to destroy in whole
or in part the targeted group.''
Now, let's see if some of the statements by the leadership of the
nation of Iran against the people of Israel qualify as calling upon the
act of killing members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group
with the intent to destroy in whole or in part that group.
Also, the Genocide Convention bans the conspiracy or incitement to
commit genocide and states that violators shall be punished ``whether
constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private
individuals.''
133 member states of the U.N. have ratified the Genocide Convention,
including Iran.
Article II, section 4 of the U.N. charter, also to which Iran has
agreed, requires all member states of the United Nations ``to refrain
in their international relations from the threat or use of force
against the territorial integrity or political independence of any
state.''
Now, let's get to the facts because that's what the U.N. requires,
that's what the treaty requires, that's what the Genocide Convention
requires, that's what the U.N. charter requires.
Well, let's start with October 26, 2005. Iranian leader Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be ``wiped off the map,'' and
described Israel as a ``disgraceful blot on the face of the Islamic
world,'' and declared that ``anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in
the fire of the Islamic nation's fury.''
12 December 2006, that same leader, Iranian leader Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, addressed a Holocaust Denial Conference in Tehran and said
that Israel would ``soon be wiped out.''
15 December 2000, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i stated that
``Iran's stance has always been clear on this ugly phenomenon''
referring to Israel as the ugly phenomenon. He went on to say, ``We
have repeatedly said that this cancerous tumor of a state should be
removed from the region.''
Iran, as we know, has aggressively pursued a clandestine effort to
arm itself with nuclear weapons. Iran funds, trains and supports
terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah, which have murdered
Americans, Israelis and non-Israeli Jews, and seeks to destroy Israel.
14 December 2001, the President of Iran's Expediency Council and
former leader of Iran, Ali Rafsanjani, threatened Israel with nuclear
destruction saying, and I quote, ``if one day the Islamic world is also
equipped with weapons like those that Israel now possesses, then the
imperialist strategy will reach a standstill because the use of even
one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything, while it will
merely harm the Islamic world.''

[[Page H6603]]

Men and women, these are comments made by the leaders of a sovereign
nation that is in a headlong pursuit to obtain nuclear weapons, and
has, by international consensus, already obtained missile technology
that could deliver such weapons within the theater of the Middle East.
History teaches no truth more clearly than this: nations should take
tyrants at their word. For the United States of America to fail to call
on the institution of the United Nations to take the tyrants in Iran at
their word would be a grievous historical error and one for which
future generations of Americans like those injured soldiers that I
toured through the Capitol earlier this afternoon will likely have to
pay.
This resolution, authored by Mr. Rothman from New Jersey and Mr. Kirk
from Illinois, strongly condemns Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
offensive remarks, contemptible statements, and reprehensible policies
directed at the destruction of Israel; calls on the United Nation's
Security Council to take up charges against Ahmadinejad for violating
the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide and article II, section 4 of the United Nations charter.
It also calls on the Security Council and all member states of the
United Nations to consider stronger measures to prevent Iran from
obtaining nuclear weapons, which would both be in violation of nuclear
non-proliferation treaties and give them the potential to eliminate
Israel.
And it reaffirms, of course, the unwavering strategic partnership and
close friendship between the United States and Israel, and reasserts
the steadfast commitment of the United States to defend the right of
Israel to exist as a free and democratic and Jewish state.
The time for this resolution has come. I commend the gentleman from
New Jersey (Mr. Rothman) for his bold leadership, and I pledge my
strong support and urge all of my colleagues to make this strong and
deafening statement that this Congress and this Nation will take
tyrants at their word, and we will call on the United Nations today to
live up to their charter.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield the balance of
our time to Ambassador Watson. And I thank Mr. Pence for his eloquent
statement.
Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I will yield then the rest of my time to the
gentleman from Ohio, Mr. Dennis Kucinich.
Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlelady from
California (Ms. Watson) and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen.
And I want to begin by stating that the sponsor of this resolution,
Mr. Rothman, is a person of great heart and compassion, someone who I
admire and am proud to serve with in this Congress. His dedication to
peace and to justice is something that is admirable. I share his
dedication to the survival and the security of the State of Israel.
At this time, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask unanimous consent to
include a New York Times translation of the text of President
Ahmadinejad's speech, a translation by the Middle East Media Research
Institute of his speech, articles relating to an analysis of the
speech, and the words that were used by Virginia Tilley of
Johannesburg, South Africa and by Erash Narsi written on the 18th of
January 2007.

{time} 1630

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Ohio?
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I would
inquire, is the gentleman inserting into the Congressional Record a
speech by Ahmadinejad?
Mr. KUCINICH. If the gentlewoman will yield, as part of this debate,
that is correct.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I was just asking if you are putting in the
Congressional Record a speech by Ahmadinejad.
Mr. KUCINICH. Yes. The text from the New York Times, a translation.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, this resolution is calling
Ahmadinejad's comments akin to genocide, calling for the destruction of
the State of Israel, and calling for the wiping out of millions of
people because they are Jews. And I object to having this person's
words be placed in the Congressional Record, the record of the United
States of America, of the people's House, and I object.
With all due respect to the gentleman, he may object to the
resolution and speak against it, but I object to having Ahmadinejad's
speech being inserted into the Record at the same time that the
gentleman is speaking against this resolution.
So I do object.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Objection is heard.
The gentleman from Ohio is recognized.
Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this insertion, which is
from the New York Times, printed in a newspaper of general circulation,
is to be able to clarify that the quotes that are cited in the
resolution are either mistranslated or out of context, and I think that
should be something that would be of interest.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would further yield,
I understand if that is what you would like to use to make the
connection.
Mr. KUCINICH. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, this is not my
translation. This is a translation from the New York Times Tehran
Bureau of this speech, and that is what I wanted to submit in the
Record, because this debate, even if unintentional, could be used as
still another cause for a U.S. attack on Iran, and because the
International Atomic Energy Agency has not established that Iran is
developing nuclear weapons and because we went to war against Iraq on
the basis of misinformation, disinformation, and because I stand for
peaceful resolution of all international disputes in the Middle East,
in the region, and because I do share the concern that Israel would be
in peril, which is why I did the research. I did the research. That is
the basis of my wanting to submit a translation.
Now, there is an old saying ``much is lost in translation,'' and if
there is so much riding on this resolution, it would appear to me that
the prudent approach to take would be to read a translation from Farsi
to English. And I have two such translations to offer this Congress if
anyone is interested.
Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. KUCINICH. Of course, I will yield to my friend from New Jersey.
Mr. ROTHMAN. My friend, you referred to a translation of a speech.
The offenses of Ahmadinejad are many. And three separate remarks on
three separate occasions calling for the destruction of the state of
Israel, does the gentleman have translations of each of those three
separate remarks calling for the genocidal destruction of the state of
Israel?
Mr. KUCINICH. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I have pretty thorough
translations that I would like to proceed to speak to.
Mr. ROTHMAN. Do you have them, of all three?
Mr. KUCINICH. I am going to proceed specifically with the comments,
if I may. Everything that I have relates to this resolution, my good
friend. And I am going to proceed now, and then I will yield again,
certainly. I just want to make sure we can continue this.
I want to proceed with quotes from this resolution. I am just going
to stay very closely to this resolution because this is what we are
debating, a resolution before the House that calls on the Security
Council to charge Iranian President Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
and the United Nations Charter because of his calls for the destruction
of the State of Israel, something that I obviously would find abhorrent
and repugnant if he said that. And I started to do research on this,
and I am just calling it to your attention.
With respect to the quote that he said that Israel should be wiped
off the map, that is what the quote was, I have seen, from translations
in the New York Times and the Middle East Research Institute that this
speech that Ahmadinejad gave on October 26, 2005, does not call for
Israel to be wiped off the map.
Now, H. Con. Res. 21 states that he has called for Israel to be wiped
off the map. But according to the Middle East Research Institute, it is
more correctly

[[Page H6604]]

translated as ``eliminated from the pages of history.'' And when taken
in full context, here is what the quote says: ``This regime that is
occupying Qods,'' or Jerusalem, ``must be eliminated from the pages of
history.'' He is talking about the regime.
Now, H. Con. Resolution 21 accuses President Ahmadinejad of saying
that Israel, and these are awful quotes if he said it, it is horrible,
that Israel is a ``disgraceful blot on the face of the Islamic world.''
However, the New York Times translates this section of the speech as
saying, ``Our dear Imam targeted the heart of the world oppressor in
his struggle, meaning the occupying regime. I have no doubt that the
new wave that has started in Palestine, and we witness it in the
Islamic world too, will eliminate this disgraceful stain from the
Islamic world.''
Now, I object to anyone's putting the word ``disgraceful'' in
connection with Israel. However, he did not say, he wasn't talking
about the people of Israel, the nation, he was talking about the
regime.
Here again is the quote that is included in this resolution:
``Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic
nation's fury.''
Look, I recognize Israel and I am not interested in that kind of
condemnation. But H. Con. Res. 21 accuses President Ahmadinejad of
declaring that anybody who recognized Israel will burn in the fire of
the Islamic nations' fury. However, in two separate translations, it is
clear that Ahmadinejad is referring to the Israeli regime.
The New York Times translation: ``Anyone who recognizes this regime
because of the pressure of the world oppressor, or because of naivete
or selfishness, will be eternally disgraced and will burn in the fury
of the Islamic nations.''
The Middle East Media Research Institute translation reads: If
someone is under the pressure of hegemonic power,'' the West, ``and
understands that something is wrong, or he is naive, or he is an
egotist and his hedonism leads him to recognize the Zionist regime, he
should know that he will burn in the fire of Islamic Ummah,'' nation .
. .
So what he is calling for is regime change, according to these
translations. According to these translations, he is calling for regime
change. He is not calling for the destruction of Israel. Now, I am just
going on the basis of a New York Times translation.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. KUCINICH. I will yield to my friend.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, is the gentleman aware that it is standard
usage in the Government of Iran and in many of the Arab regimes that
since they will not say the word ``Israel,'' they refer to Israel as
the Zionist entity or the Zionist regime so that when they say the
``Zionist regime,'' they are not necessarily calling for regime change?
When they say the ``Zionist regime'' or the ``Zionist entity'' must be
abolished, they are usually referring to the country of Israel?
Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, to respond to my friend, if that is what
he meant, then we have cause for great concern. However, in one of the
articles I wanted to submit so that Congress could see it, it says, and
I quote, ``What did Ahmadinejad actually say? To quote his exact words
in Farsi,'' and then they give the quote, ``that passage will mean
nothing to most people but one word might ring a bell: `regime.' It is
the word `regime' pronounced just like the English word with an extra
e-h sound at the end. Ahmadinejad did not refer to Israel the country
or Israel the land mass but the Israeli regime. That is a vastly
significant distinction as one cannot wipe a regime off the map.''
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. KUCINICH. I would be glad to have my friend respond and also for
Mr. Rothman to respond.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I will respond again. It proves nothing
because the fact is that if you are just looking at etymology, it may
make sense. But if you look at usage in the Middle East, the Arab and
Iranian people who wish the State of Israel eliminated have, since 1947
or 1948, referred to Israel either as the ``Zionist regime'' or the
``Zionist entity.'' And you can look back at the rhetoric of 1967 when
they lined up the troops and they said all the Jews will be killed.
They talked about the Zionist regime or the Zionist entity being
eliminated. They weren't talking about regime change; they were talking
about genocide.
Mr. ROTHMAN. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. KUCINICH. Yes.
Mr. ROTHMAN. First of all, a lot of these statements occurred in the
capital of Iran during the World Without Zionism Conference. Zionism is
a historic movement of returning the Jews to their Biblical homeland
where they were expelled for thousands of years. So when they have a
conference for a world without Zionism and in that conference say that
the Zionist regime will be wiped off the map, one could reasonably
understand that there would be no more Zionism, no Jewish state,
because that is what Zionism is, no Jewish state in the Middle East. By
the way, the Middle East, which is a sea of Islamic regimes. A sea of
Islamic regimes. Israel's offense is having the nerve to exist as a
non-Islamic regime.
But I ask the gentleman for translations of the other matters that
came before the U.N. Namely, on December 12 of 2006, during a
conference in Iran denying the Holocaust, Ahmadinejad said Israel would
soon be wiped out. Not the Labor Government of Israel or the Likud
Government of Israel, but Israel would be wiped out. And then again
just a few weeks ago on Sunday, June 2, Ahmadinejad said the world
would soon see the destruction of Israel. And I say to my friend from
Ohio, I know you have the best intentions.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman from Ohio has
expired.
Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for an additional
3 minutes to be divided equally between Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Rothman
and myself, and I would yield to Mr. Rothman, then Ms. Ros-Lehtinen,
then I will close.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Ohio?
Hearing none, we will have 3 additional minutes of debate, divided
equally between the gentleman from Ohio and the gentlewoman from
Florida.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for asking for
this time.
I want to be clear about my objection of putting Ahmadinejad's
statements in the Record. Mr. Kucinich has an opportunity, as a Member
of this House, to clear up the record, as he has pointed out in his
statements, and put in those remarks on his own. I would hate to have
Ahmadinejad's statements be included as a part of the record in this
part of the debate where we are saying that he is a despot. He is a
person who denies the Holocaust existence, who has called for Israel's
destruction, and to be mincing about with words and translations, I
know the gentleman from Ohio's motives are clear. He is not saying that
he is calling for Israel's destruction, but I think that any
interpretation of Ahmadinejad's words and deeds would clearly say that
that is Ahmadinejad's motives.

{time} 1645

So I would not like his statements to be made a part of the record in
this part of the discussion, but he, as a Member of Congress, is free
to clear the record, as he points out, and put Ahmadinejad's words on
his own time in the Congressional Record.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I would be glad to yield my remaining time to
Mr. Rothman.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman from Florida has
previously expired.
Mr. ROTHMAN. I thank the Speaker, the gentlelady from Florida, and
the gentleman from Ohio.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will suspend.
The gentleman from Ohio actually has the time.
Mr. KUCINICH. What I had said in my unanimous consent was Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen and Mr. Rothman, then I was going to be last. That was the UC.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair interpreted the gentleman's
request such that he would have 1\1/2\ minutes and the gentlewoman from
Florida would have 1\1/2\ minutes. That is the order of the House.

[[Page H6605]]

Mr. KUCINICH. Then I yield 30 seconds to my friend from New Jersey
(Mr. Rothman).
Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is afraid that because at an
anti-Zionism ``World without Zionism'' conference, Ahmadinejad said,
``Wipe Israel off the map.'' We are quibbling over whether he said on
another occasion, wipe the Israel regime, Zionist regime off the map
and on a third occasion said, the world would soon see the destruction
of Israel. The gentleman thinks there is ambiguity there.
This is a regime in Iran sending troops and equipment, killing our
soldiers in Iraq, building nuclear weapons, threatening to kill our
number one ally, the State of Israel, and he doesn't want the U.N. to
look into it to condemn them? I think the gentleman is wrong.
Mr. KUCINICH. If, in fact, that's what he said, then of course the
U.N. should look into it. But I think we should look into whether or
not he said that. And again, I offered to submit, but was denied a
unanimous consent, the text of his speech, and a translation by Nazila
Fathi in the New York Times Tehran Bureau of the speech. This is from
the New York Times. And they certainly have never been accused of any
kind of propaganda against Israel.
So I would say that it is important for us to look at this. And I
don't think it is an unreasonable request that we should look at
exactly what this person said so we will know what the appropriate
course of action is to take.
I stand for peace. I stood before this Congress and challenged the
war against Iraq when very few people were willing to do that because I
questioned whether or not Iraq did have weapons of mass destruction. I
am questioning whether or not this person is trying to destroy Israel.
If he is, then I certainly support my friend's concerns.
Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I am a proud cosponsor of to
day's resolution which calls for the United Nations to take action to
uphold one of its most important conventions--the Convention of
Genocide. With the violence of the Holocaust just a few years behind
them, the members of the United Nations in 1948 established a
convention to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.
There is much talk at the UN about preventing war and genocide but
unfortunately there is little action. The Iranian President has called
for a UN member nation to be ``wiped off the map.'' Do we have any
doubt that the UN would sanction the Israeli Prime Minister if the
positions were reversed?
The Iranian president and the Ayatollahs' supreme wish is the
destruction of Israel and all her people. They have not tried to mask
this goal--they doubt the holocaust of the past and make plans for a
holocaust of the future.
Ahmadinejad has even gone as far as speculating that the collateral
damage of attacking Israel with nuclear weapons would be worth the cost
to the Muslim world. For a regime that is developing nuclear
capabilities, these are truly dangerous words. In the 1930's fascist
dictators made bold claims of impending violence and we ignored them to
our own peril.
The world should not ignore these words of aggression. Today, we call
on UN member nations to call out Ahmadinejad, to condemn these
statements, and to work together to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear
weapons.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) that the House suspend the
rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 21, as
amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will
be postponed.

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